Language is the result of acquisition
Comprehensible input leads to acquisition
CI through movies and videos
by Pat Verano
CI stands for 100 % understood, 100% meaningful
Translation (title, characters descriptions, subtitles)
Cognates
Gestures
Visuals( culture info and setting of the movie)
Contextualization in the TPRS class personalization (pq&as) (what
did Ana do, who has been to…)
Implicit grammar teaching through the story telling technique
Acting out a scene, compare it to the novel
Explicit grammar in the form of pop-up meaning
(accents)
Reading as the major input- It relates to visuals and scenes of the
movie
Headlines, scripts and commercials
Compare the movie to the novel(script)
Movies are a powerful source of input. They combine visual elements, motion, listening, acoustic means and reading possibilities. The
tremendous amount of meaningful repetition you can bring into the class plus building up personalization through personal questions and
answers, circling and reading make movies a`la TPRS a unique source of effective CI.
The educational movies based on the novels written by Blaine Ray for the TPRS field, are aimed at providing the students as much effective CI
input as possible to motivate, favor, and enrich their second or foreign language acquisition process.
The steps to Movies a´la TPRS
1-Presentation: in some of the novels, Pobre Ana is the same central character in a different setting and she is exposed to a new” comic”
situation. If we take Blaine’s movies (where Ana is the central character) and use laughter and humor in the scenes as sitcoms, we can
generate excellent, high-comprehension scenes. What makes people laugh is something that taps a pool of knowledge and getting the
“joke” creates a feeling of social success.
Before beginning: Give students everything they need to know:
Describe the situation and present the characters and their personal quirk: Use the book, teachers is the narrator
Teacher reads what is written on the reverse side of the written novel. (Projected on the wall)
1-Present the movie
Find the best translation for the movie into English-Discuss about
the place where the movie was filmed-Play with varieties like: ¿Ana
bailò tango en Buenos Aires, Argentina, o……..) : Culture teaching
Pobre Ana….
…la película
Show the poster/use projector where the
name of the movie can be seen. Personalize
the date, the place and the audience through
P&QAs . Complete the blanks with the
information provided by students or use
numbers and names of the months already
prepared by you (props) and let them choose
the date.
Estreno: HOY
______________
Lugar:________
Sala VIP:______
.
2-Show photos of the characters. Ask about their names
Add a brief description of the characters written next to the photos :
Ana: es la protagonista de la película “Ana Bailó tango en Buenos
Aires,” ella visitó la ciudad y compró zapatos número 42.
Prior to viewing the movie give students everything they need to
know:
Describe the situation and present the characters and their personal
quirk: Use the book, teacher is the narrator.
Teacher reads what is written on the reverse side of the written novel.
(Appears as part of the titles of the movie))
On the reverse side of the written novel: Teacher reads what is
written on the reverse side of the written novel. (Projected on the
wall) Students translate.
Ana, la protagonista de esta historia es la misma de Pobre Ana. Luego
de viajar a México, Ana cambió mucho y quería conocer el mundo.
En esta historia Ana vuelve a viajar otra vez, ahora a Buenos Aires,
Argentina, la escuela le da la oportunidad. Ella tiene dos metas
principales: continuar mejorando su español y aprender a bailar
tango. Ana se da cuenta que bailar tango es un arte y hay mucho que
aprender. En el proceso, hace amigos, compra unos zapatos especiales
para tango conoce a un profesor de tango muy guapo y, lo más
importante, aprende sobre la cultura argentina
3- Using the script as the reading (for discussion)
Read from the script
-Use cultural information in the movie.
Set the characters/use visual, music and scenes in the movie
Say which things are shown/ are not shown in the movie
-Act out a scene from the movie
Establish relationships among the characters
-Use the book and compare it to the script
Use the movie, book and script
Say which things are shown/ are not shown in the movie
-Discuss character development, choices /values and order sequences
Say which things are shown/ are not shown in the movie
Sample activities: use the book and compare it to the movie
A-Say things which are shown in the movie/ which are not shown in the movie. Discussion
 ¿Ana cambió luego de su viaje a México?
(Looking for “ahs” and “ohs”, teacher says “Ana cambiò(mucho) luego de su viaje a Mèxico.” Add a few circling questions
 ¿Quería Ana conocer el mundo? (Looking for “ahs” and “ohs”, teacher says “Ana querìa conocer el mundo.” (Add a few circling
questions
 ¿Hace amigos en Buenos Aires? (Looking for “ahs” and “ohs”, teacher says “Ana hace amigos en Buenos Aires.” Add a few circling
questions
 ¿Compra zapatos especiales en Buenos Aires? (Looking for “ahs” and “ohs”, teacher says “Compra zapatos especiales en Buenos Aires.”
Add a few circling questions
 ¿Conoce a un profesor de tango muy guapo en Bs As? (Looking for “ahs” and “ohs”, teacher says “Conoce a un profesor de tango muy
guapo en Bs As .” Add a few circling questions
b- Act out a scene from the movie: watch the scene , read the script and act it out
Students listen and watch and color or mark the right balloon. Then search for the dialog in the script and/or book
Using the dialogs in the book or script students act out the scene, teacher reads and they gesture or students read from the book
Se encontraron
en el aeropuerto
Ana y Alejandra
se conocieron
cuando………..
hablaron
por teléfono
llegaron a la
casa de
Alejandra
fueron a lo de
Carlitos
Ana y Enrique se
enamoraron cuando…
bailaron
tango
comieron en
un restaurant
fueron a la misma
academia de tango
Ana y Renata se hicieron
amigas cuando………..
hablaron sobre
lo que pasó
bailaron tango
c-Discuss character development, choices /values and order sequences
Reading the script and the book
(Example)
Escena 1
Contesta = igual al libro, X no està en el libro, ¿No estoy seguro/a




a-Ana leyó un libro sobre la Argentina
b-En la escuela había un programa para estudiar español
c-Ana llegó al aeropuerto
d-Alejandra habló por teléfono con la Academia de tango
d-Use culture provided by the music: students are going to write the translation for the subtitles
(a piece of the song)
Pat Verano
patverano@argentinaparavos.com.ar